Understanding music

See the TLS review of philosopher Roger Scruton’s new book, Understanding Music. An excerpt:

Just as facial expressions do not communicate something that can be understood so much as enjoin us to imagine what it feels like when we ourselves make such an expression, so too, according to Scruton, does some elemental aspect of musical experience enjoin us to engage our imagining in similar fashion. In this way, and because the experience of music is not, at least not typically, heard as a single expression, the imagination is forced to grapple with the musical shapes and forms as they unfold over time, following its movement as it echoes in, or is anticipated by, the movements of our body and rational imagination.

Author: Huenemann

Curious about the ways humans use their minds and hearts to distract themselves from the meaninglessness of life. View all posts by Huenemann